One might spend a long time in analyzing the various shades in the gamut of expressions on the faces of the principal and secondary figures in the _Game of Piquet_, who, scattered all nine of them around the two sides of the tavern table, follow either amusedly or critically or with feverish interest the changing fortunes of the game. And in the _Portrait of the Sergeant_, what a magnificent collection of different degrees of attention: that of the portrait painter as he studies his model standing in front of him on the pavement, in his finest uniform and his finest pose; that of the model intent only upon doing nothing to disturb his ultra-martial bearing, his gaze menacing, staring, fixed; that of the spectators, some of them drawing near, fascinated, another who casts an amused glance at the picture as he passes by, with some sarcastic remark on his lips; another who no doubt has just been looking, and for the moment, with pipe between his teeth, is thinking of something else as he sits on a bench with his back to the wall and his legs extended in front of him. _The Quarrel_, with all the feverish violence that drives the two bravos at each other's throats, has perhaps more amplitude and less realism than any of the previously mentioned works. It is Meissonier's one romantic painting, and he professed a great admiration for it, ranking it as one of his four best canvases. It is recorded that the master said one day to a friend: [Illustration: PLATE VII.--AMATEURS OF PAINTINGS (In the Musée du Louvre) This picture, which must not be confused with the _Amateurs of Paintings_, in the Musée Cluny at Chantilly, is nevertheless a replica of the latter. They are differentiated by a few insignificant details, but they resemble each other in the harmony of the grouping and the truth of the attitudes.] "I have seen my _Quarrel_ at Secretan's. I looked at it as though I had never seen the picture before. Well, do you know, it is really a fine thing!" MILITARY PAINTINGS Mention should be made, before passing on to the military paintings, of just a few other genre paintings: _The Reading at Diderot's_, _The Amateurs_, _The Flute Players_. But it is the military pictures that loom up largely amongst the artist's prolific output:--_1807_, the portrayal of the Imperial Apotheosis, the army passing by at a gallop, eagerly acclaiming the Emperor, as he answers with a salute; _1814_, the decline, the retreat from Russia; _1815_, the cuirassiers of Waterloo before the charge. This picture, which formed part of the Duc d'Aumale's collection, was purchased for 250,000 francs, but afterwards twice resold: the first time for 275,000 francs, the second for 400,000 francs.